He has taken on the Dovecote Studio - an architectural gem clad in oxidised Corten steel sheeting, and most of Gallery 21 that runs along one side of the same yard, with a few larger works lurking in the lofty Concert Hall Foyer.
Each of the two main spaces have a strong identity which can work against whatever gets displayed in them. Not in this case though. The show has been structured around new, yet related formats Roger has been working on for the last eighteen months or so. In Gallery 21 he is showing a suite of new woodblock prints, a collection of small-scale scale highly coloured paintings alongside the latest iteration of the graceful hand-hewn wooden sculpture he has become known for. To add further to the wooden material on display are also a new group of turned bobbin-like wooden pieces placed upon individual wall shelves in an anti-room at the far end of the main gallery.
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“Roger Hardy’s sculptural pieces explore the possibilities that can be found in ordinary timber, often overlooked or unwanted. They are “object trouve” to the inspiration of an artistic eye that can see further and with that breathe new artistic life into them.
The natural colours work easily together. The teased out grain has a flowing rhythm and forms a natural base to support a figure that in itself could easily have just walked from the woods.
These humble objects reminding us that we are all part of a larger world, but also help us sustain and enjoy their natural presence.”
David Messum
Chairman David Messum Fine Art. 2025
The exhibition title is Wood, and the work explores different aspects of the material, but the variety of these outcomes is what marks this show out from previous outings. The pictorial content, paintings and prints seem to be describing the ubiquity of the material. Each rectangular picture plain shows a variation in the grain, knots and cuts. Roger has used them to describe the tree trunks, and spaces between, leaving his description of woodland thickets to the darker hues he applies so deftly either in paint or ink.
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The opposite is true in his sculpture which work because he is intervening in the most subtle way selecting pieces of timber he has picked up or foraged, making the slightest changes to the natural surface with pigment or pattern to suggest a figure or a bird or a boat.
The new work is immediately engaging for us, as we understand Roger Hardy is an artist who is not content to maintain a narrow path. He is expanding his visual lexicon and doing new things to enliven his natural subject. And it is life enhancing to see his virtuosity in applying these new techniques to produce a well-considered and vital new body of work like this.
Ends 19 October 2025
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About the author
Paul Vater
PAUL VATER
Paul conducts studio visits to maintain strong relationships with artists, designers and craftspeople who show their work with us. He manages the main C&C website and has developed the online shop where selected works are presented for sale.
Paul established his design company, Sugarfree, in 1990 and quickly gained a reputation for delivering fresh, effective marketing campaigns and brand identities for clients including Save the Children Fund, United Nations Association and UNHCR. Over the years those added to the roster include IPC Magazines, Arts Council England, The Roundhouse, Barbican Centre, Arts Marketing Association, Look Ahead Housing and Care, Paddington Waterside, BBC Worldwide, Commonwealth Foundation, Prestel, City of London Corporation, Baker Street Quarter, Victoria BID and the University of East Anglia.